CLASS 11 · WOVEN WORDS · CHAPTER 21

My Watch

Original student-friendly answers to the essay activities for My Watch.

13 worked answersOriginal sample responses

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13 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them

Understanding the Text

Textbook pages Understanding the Text

Question Understanding the Text

Why was the watch so important to the author?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

It was new, costly, and accurate for eighteen months, so the author trusted it and felt its failure as a serious loss.

Question Understanding the Text

What happened during the author’s attempts to repair the watch?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

Each repairer diagnosed a different fault and adjusted or replaced a part.

Question Understanding the Text

Why did the author finally give up on the watch?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

After many repairs and a large amount of money, the watch still did not keep dependable time.

Question Understanding the Text

What did Uncle William say about repairers?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

He joked that a good watch remains good only until repairers get a chance to work on it.

Question Understanding the Text

Explain the author’s feeling of kinship with the mummy.

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

Because the watch was running so far behind, the author joked that he too seemed to belong to an earlier time.

Question Understanding the Text

What is humorous about describing the watch as having a fever and a fast pulse?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

The watch is described as if it were a sick person.

Question Understanding the Text

Why is the final repairer’s “too much steam” explanation funny?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

He uses the language of a steamboat engine to explain a watch.

Talking About the Text

Textbook pages Talking About the Text

Question Talking About the Text

Is replacing an old machine always better than repairing it?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

Not always.

Question Talking About the Text

Why can it be difficult to part with an ordinary object such as a watch?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

An object can hold memories of a person, place, or important time.

Appreciation

Textbook pages Appreciation

Question Appreciation

How does humour show the trouble the author takes to set the watch right?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

Twain piles up increasingly ridiculous repairs and describes the watch as a living creature.

Question Appreciation

Why can readers recognise their own experience in this essay?

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

Many readers have trusted a device, taken it for repair, and received confusing explanations.

Question Appreciation

Name improbable images that increase the humour.

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

The watch races ahead, has a fever and pulse, makes “steam”, and behaves like a runaway or sick creature.

Language Work

Textbook pages Language Work

Question Language Work

List ways the author gives the watch human qualities.

Steps only

State the main idea and connect it to a detail from the essay.

Answer

The watch “sickens”, has a pulse, “sneezes” and “wheezes”, and seems to choose when it stops.

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My Watch

Understanding the Text

Why was the watch so important to the author?

Answer

What happened during the author’s attempts to repair the watch?

Answer

Why did the author finally give up on the watch?

Answer

What did Uncle William say about repairers?

Answer

Explain the author’s feeling of kinship with the mummy.

Answer

What is humorous about describing the watch as having a fever and a fast pulse?

Answer

Why is the final repairer’s “too much steam” explanation funny?

Answer

Talking About the Text

Is replacing an old machine always better than repairing it?

Answer

Why can it be difficult to part with an ordinary object such as a watch?

Answer

Appreciation

How does humour show the trouble the author takes to set the watch right?

Answer

Why can readers recognise their own experience in this essay?

Answer

Name improbable images that increase the humour.

Answer

Language Work

List ways the author gives the watch human qualities.

Answer

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